USA > Mississippi > The pioneers, preachers and people of the Mississippi Valley > Part 2
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24
30
PIONEERS, PREACHERS AND PEOPLE
forces a strange medley did the muster show. A thousand knights and soldiers, twelve priests, eight other ecclesiasties, and four monks ; workers in wood and iron, miners and assayers ; then three hundred and fifty thorough-bred horses, three hundred hogs to stock the country, and packs of bloodhounds to hunt the natives. There were matchlocks and cross- bows, pikes, lances, and swords ; one piece of ord- nance ; manacles and iron collars for their prisoners ; and a store of baubles, as presents for those whom they might wish to propitiate. Wine, bread, and flour for the mass, were there; and, lastly, cards for gambling-which, by the way, was carried to excess, men often losing the last article they possessed. Stately knights, clad cap-à-pie in burnished armor, bestrode their prancing steeds, while all the com- monalty were well protected with breast-plates, bucklers, and helmets. There had been no stint of money to supply all that experience could suggest or that taste could hint as necessaries or luxuries in the enterprise of conquest and colonization.
Rumors having reached the camp that a Spaniard was living in a neighboring village, Baltazar Gal- legos, a dauntless officer, was dispatched at the head of sixty horsemen to secure him for an interpreter and guide. As Baltazar and his troopers were rapidly pushing on, they espied a company of In- dians on the verge of a plain. The Spaniards,
31
OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
anxious for a brush with the natives. manœuvred to attack them : but all save two fled to the forest. One of these two was wounded ; the other, at whom Alvaro Nicto, one of the boldest troopers, was spur- ring. danced from side to side, seeking to parry Nieto's thrust with his bow, shouting the while, ·· Seville, Seville !" hearing which. the trooper cried, " Is your name Juan Ortiz ?" "Yes." was the reply. Reining up his horse, Alvaro caught the other by the arm, raised him to the croup of his saddle, and hurried in triumph to Baltazar.
The story of Ortiz deserves a brief recital. Born at Seville, " of worshipful parentage," he had joined the expedition of Narvacz, had returned to Cuba with his vessels, and had accompanied the expedition which, ten years before, had put in at the bay of Espiritu Santo, in search of his commander. It was not long after the departure of that barbarian, and while Hirrihigua was in the agony of his recent wrongs, that, as the expedition was coasting along the shore, a few Indians appeared. pointing to a let- ter in a cleft reed, evidently left Uy Narvaez. The Spanirads invited them to bring it aboard. This they refused ; but four of them, entering a canoe, came off as hostages for any of the crew who might go to fetch it. Four of the whites accordingly landed. and were instantly set upon by a crowd of savages who had been concealed in the thicket. The four
32
PIONEERS, PREACHERS AND PEOPLE
hostages sprang into the sea, and swam ashore. The crew, anticipating the fate of their companions, and fearing the like for themselves, made sail with all speed. The captives were conveyed to the village, and condemned to be shot, one at a time. Three were thus dealt with, and the fourth, Juan Ortiz, was being led forth, when the wife and daughters of the cacique, touched with compassion at sight of his youth and comeliness, interceded with Hirrihigua, and gained a respite. His life was still a wretched one, softened only by the watchful kindness of the women, who once even rescued him after he had been half burnt alive by order of his implacable captor. At length, through their aid, he succeeded in escaping to the village of Mocoso, a neighboring chief, who treated him as if he had been a brother, and protected him from all danger. Here he had remained ever since, and was now residing; nearly naked, browned, painted, with a headdress of fea- thers, so that one might not know him from a savage, on an embassy from Mocoso to the camp of De Soto. Great was the joy of the camp at the recovery of Ortiz. The Adelantado received him as a son, gave him all that heart could wish, and thencefortli he became the interpreter of the expedition.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant-General Don Vasco Por- callo, whom we picked up in Cuba, testy and withal vain-glorious, yet longing to distinguish himself, en-
33
OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
treats to be sent in pursuit of Hirrihigua, that he may ferret him out of his swampy fastness, and bring him, friend or prisoner, to camp. Despite monitions, he sets off, dashes forward, and is only arrested by a quagmire, where himself and horse are in imminent jeopardy of being smothered. Con- quered by the mire, he returns crestfallen to head- quarters, venting curses upon the country, natives and expedition. "May the devil fly away with the country where they have such names!" quoth he. " Let those fight in this accursed place for fame and wealth who will. As for me, I have enough of both to last me. So I will back to Cuba, and let the hot bloods see it out." Thus does Don Vasco Porcallo de Figueroa disappear from this story ; for, at his request, De Soto sent him home. "The prudent man foreseeth the danger, and hideth himself."
A strong garrison was left to protect the stores, and the march commenced toward the northeast. As they left the coast, the country improved, and their way lay by pleasant cornfields, over grassy plains, and through forests where the eye detected many a tree familiar to them in the sunny groves of dear old Castile. The wild grapes, too, whose clam- bering vines festooned the branches, were grateful to men who had grown up among vineyards. Fifty leagues brought them, however, to the marge of a morass a league in width, and apparently impassable ;
2*
34
PIONEERS, PREACHERS AND PEOPLE
and hereabouts the natives, although not attacking, had concealed themselves, and were waiting oppor- tunities for opening the war. A pass was at length discovered, and after immense trouble, the army was conveyed across. But here they were effectually checked by deep lagoons and bayous that seemed interminable.
Recrossing the swamp, in order to find a better line of march for the army, De Soto, who was ever in the van when difficulty pressed or danger threat- ened, at the head of a pieked corps made an exten- sive tour of observation, and found what he sought. But himself and men were near starving; for three days and nights they had little rest and less food. Supplies must be had, and the army brought up. Calling to him Gonzalo Silvestre, a bold young sol- dier, "To you," he said, " belongs the best horse, therefore the harder work. Away, and hold not bridle until you have reached the camp. Bring us what we need and order the forces to join us. Be back by to-morrow night." Without a word Silvestre mounted and spurred away, calling to Juan Lopez, De Soto's page, to follow. Neither of these stout youths was one and twenty. Away over the twilight plain they sped. Fifteen leagues, tired as they and their steeds were, must be ridden that night. If morning found them in the swamp, almost certain death awaited them. Trusting more to the sagacity
35
OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
of their horses than to their own management to find the way on, through the thickening night rode our tired cavaliers ; the silence broken by the moan of the cypress woods, the whir of a startled bird, the croaking of the monstrous frogs, and the plash of their horses' feet : and every now and then, as some camp-fire blazed on an island in the mire, revealing a party of savages engaged in feast or dance, a din as of an infernal orchestra broke upon their ears. The passage of a southern swamp is no casy feat at any time; but at night, by two youths, surrounded by hundreds of savage foes, it was an exploit worthy the hardiest. I mention it here to show the mettle of De Soto's troops.
Undismayed by sight or sound, they still pressed forward until Lopez, grown reckless through fatigue and want of sleep, threw himself upon the ground. swearing he would go not a rood further until he had slept. Silvestre had nothing for it but to submit. Falling asleep himself in the saddle, he awoke to find it broad day. Hastily rousing his companion they started, but there was yet a league before them, and the Indians were not long in descrying the two horsemen and sounding the alarm. Forthwith the woods swarmed with painted furies. Knowing there was no resource left them but resolution and their horses, they pushed on at a gallop, their mail defend- ing them from the shafts of their enemies. The yells
36
PIONEERS, PREACHERS AND PEOPLE
and war-cries of the savages at length reached the camp, and thirty troopers rushed to their aid. Thus did these brave youths reach their goal in safety.
Taking scarce an hour for rest, Silvestre was again in the saddle at the head of thirty lancers conveying two horseloads of supplies to the general ; and not long after nightfall had reached the spot where he had left his commander the evening before. When the main body came up, they found the commandant encamped in the plain of Aguera, where maize was growing in abundance. Here they rested after their late privations.
The Seminoles had now commenced hostilities in good earnest; not indeed by pitchied battle in the open field, but by ambuscades lurking in every thicket, picking off every little knot of Spaniards incantious enough to stray from the camp or line of march. Nevertheless they were all ardor to procced, for some natives whom they had captured, in reply to their eager questions concerning the precious me- tals, assured them that in Ocali, a country to the northward, gold was so plenty that in war the people wore head-pieces of it.
But Ocali is reached, and no gold is found ; only a poor small town, empty of people. The main body of the troops here came up with the commander, after a difficult and hungry march ; making up for their failing provisions by boiling a few beets which they
37
OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
found here and there in the fields, and chewing the young stems of the growing Indian corn.
After brief delay, they press forward to the domi- nions of Vitachuco, a powerful chieftain, whose terri- tories are fifty leagues across. After some days of amity the Spaniards discover a perfidious plot to destroy them. Vitachuco has ordered a grand review of his warriors, ten thousand strong. At a signal twelve of his braves are to seize De Soto and the massacre is to commence. Trusting to take the Span- iards unaware, they deem their destruction easy. But forewarned, forearmed. Vitachuco is seized and the Spaniards charge the hordes of natives with head- long valor, mowing hundreds of them down upon the plain, whilst masses fly to adjoining lakes to swim for their lives. One of these lakes, wherein is the flower of Vitachuco's army, is surrounded by the troops, and although they offer quarter, not a savage will submit. Night comes on ; the lake shore is vigilantly patrolled. By daylight fifty have yielded ; and at ten o'clock of the morning, after they had been in the water twenty- four hours, all the rest save seven come ashore. These hold out until three o'clock, when De Soto, un- willing that such steadfast valor should find a watery grave, sends twenty expert swimmers after them, who drag them to land more dead than alive. When questioned, after their recovery, by the Adelantado, why they held out so stubbornly, four of them replied
38
PIONEERS, PREACHERS AND PEOPLE
that they were captains, and that such should never surrender. The other three, neither of whom was over eighteen years of age, replied that they were sons of neighboring caciques, and would be caciques themselves some day, and that it did not behoove such to be guilty of cowardice. This was the indomitable spirit of the men De Soto came to con- quer.
The warriors of Vitachuco were reduced to slavery; still the untamed spirit of that chief revolved a plan for the extermination of the hated invaders. Com- municating his scheme secretly, it was soon known to all his braves. On the third day, while the Indians were waiting on their masters at dinner, at the sound of his war-whoop they were to attack their oppressors with whatever they could lay hands on, and at once destroy them. At the appointed time, Vitachuco, who was seated near De Soto, sprang upon him and bore him to the earth, dealing him such a blow in the face as brought the blood in streams from nose, mouth, and eyes. Raising his arm for another blow, which would have been death to the Adelan- tado, he gave the whoop, which could be heard for a quarter of a league. At that critical moment a dozen swords and lances pierced him, and he fell lifeless to the earth. At the signal, his warriors fell upon their masters with pots, kettles, pestles and stools, and such arms as they could seize. But they were soon
39
OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
overpowered, for they fought in chains. Thus per- ished Vitachuco, and with him, in all, thirteen hundred of his brave warriors. Some of those slain performed extraordinary feats of valor. One, who was being led to the market-place to be murdered after the fight, first lifted up his master above his head and flung him down so that he was stunned, then seized his sword, and, in the words of the Portuguese narrative, though "inclosed between fifteen or twenty footmen, made way like a bull, with the sword in his hand, until certain halberdiers of the governor came, which killed him." Of the Indians who remained alive after the strife was over, about two hundred in num- ber, some were given as slaves to those who had the best claim, and the rest were shot to death in cold blood, by the archers of De Soto's guard, or by the Indian allies.
And here it may be well to say a word, once for all, of the treatment of the Indians by De Soto and his men. This was such as excuses these high-spi- rited barbarians a thousand times over for their cou- stant and unflinching enmity to the Spaniards, and for all the savage arts used to oppose the invaders. As De Soto went from nation to nation, he was ac- customed to demand the services of large numbers of Indians as porters. Four thousand at one time were thus employed in transporting the baggage. This servile drudgery was sufficiently intolerable to the
40
PIONEERS, PREACHERS AND PEOPLE
warriors of the woods. But the Christians were ac- customed to make occasional expeditions for the ex- press purpose of procuring, not friendly porters, but slaves to labor in chains. A hundred, including men and women, were thus taken in a single expedition, a little after the death of Vitachuco. These were led by irons about their necks, and were made to carry bag- gage, grind maize, and serve their Spanish masters in all things which a captive might do. Although the superior arms of the Spaniards enabled them to retain many of these captives, of whom some even accom- panied the remains of the expedition to Mexico, yet their stubborn and revengeful spirit gave their cap- tors constant annoyance. Sometimes, as one was led in chains to labor, he slew the Christian who led him and ran away with his gyves; others filed their fet- ters through by night with a stone, and thus escaped. They undoubtedly gave all the information in their power to their countrymen in the woods, which must have aided them materially in their desperate attacks upon the Spaniards.
De Soto, after the death of Vitachuco, bent his steps westward through the province of Osachile, where they still found their path infested by hostile savages, who stoutly contested every step of the way. At one broad morass, in particular, probably that at the head of the Estauhatchee River, in the middle of which was a lagoon half a league wide, the Indians
41
OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
made a resolute stand. The path downward through the tangled, swampy forest, would admit of but two abreast, and was cleared under water to the same breadth, until the lagoon was too deep to be forded. This deep centre was passed by a slender and perilous bridge of logs tied together, and on the other side the same narrow, dangerous path ascended through another tangled, swampy forest. Just beyond this morass, the Indians had impeded a large extent of woods by felling logs and tying and interlacing them among the standing trees, upon a piece of ground very near where, ten years before, they had defeated Narvaez. After three days of dangerous and most fatiguing fighting, up to their waists in water, and afterward in the barricaded forests filled with their yelling, invisible foes, the wearied Spaniards forced a way through into a region less beset, and at length reached the chief village in the fertile and populous province of Appalache, near Tallahassee, where they took up their winter quarters. A scouting party dis- covered the sea at no great distance, and found the bay of Aute, from which the unfortunate Narvaez had embarked. On the solitary coast were yet to be seen the coals of his forges, the skulls of his horses, and the troughs where he had fed them. The intre- pid Juan de Añasco was now dispatched, with thirty troopers, to Pedro Calderon, who had been left in command at the village of Hirrihigua, to order hin
4.2
PIONEERS, PREACHERS AND PEOPLE
to join the general with his men and supplies. The enterprise was beset with difficulties from which the boldest might shrink. To traverse a country peopled by a warlike race, whose undying antipathy to the Spaniards had been aroused, to thread a maze which had well-nigh proved fatal to the main army, was a task which might well have made the stout- est quail. But, notwithstanding incredible hard- ships and peril, the dauntless Juan succeeded. Pe- dro Calderon joined the army, and the two brigan- tines were brought around from Espiritu Santo to the Bay of Aute. These, exploring the coast west- ward, discovered the bay of Achusi, now Pensacola. Appointing this as a rendezvous, De Soto ordered Maldinado to sail for Cuba, and to return with supplies.
At Appalache, or as it is also named, Anaica Appa- lache, not far from Tallahassee, De Soto went into quarters for the winter. The number of his men, luis careful strengthening of his defences, and the pre- cautions which he took, enabled him to repel the in- cessant attacks of the natives, who, however, kept him in constant watchfulness, and picked off every Spaniard who strayed from the camp. As a means of preventing these attacks, he succeeded in obtain- ing possession of Capafi, the chief of Appalache, a man so fat that he could not walk; but after a short time, the cunning old chief crawled away on his
43
OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
hands and knees from his guards while they were sleeping, and was never retaken. The hardy and fearless Spaniards, however, now well experienced in Indian warfare, kept watch and ward, repelled all attacks, and maintained themselves through the winter in comparative comfort.
And now the second year of the expedition opens upon them. The land is in the bloom of spring. The new-born leaves seem to clap their hands in joy, as they dally with the soft south breeze ; the sward is tuft- ed with flowers of every hne; the air is flooded with the moeking-bird's rich and ever changeful song ; the tender blade eleaves the mold ; and all the land is gay in the garments of the opening tropic year. Will not this man take her as a bride from God ? Nay ! unless she has yellow treasure on her breast. A yel- low grave shalt thou have, Hernando de Soto! but no gold !
The captives tell them of Cofachiqui, a region to the northeast, where the precious earth can be had in plenty ; their reports, doubtless, referring to the Geor- gia and South Carolina gold fields, which other au- thorities prove to have been early worked by the In- dians.
Accompanied on part of their route by four thou- sand friendly Indians sent by the chief of Cofaqui to carry the baggage, and by as many more, under Patofa, the war-chief of Cofaqui, as escort ; with vari-
44
PIONEERS, PREACHERS AND PEOPLE
ous lot of hospitable welcome from friendly natives, and threatened starvation in immense pine barrens ; now in lonely devouring bogs, and then in fertile and cultivated tracts; here feasting in the midst of plenty, there famishing in deserts of sand under the pine trees, that offer them nothing but a tomb-thus they cross the present State of Georgia diagonally from southwest to northeast, until they strike the Savan- nah River at Silver Bluff. On the opposite side was the town of Cofachiqui, where ruled a youthful queen of rare grace and beauty. Gliding across the river in a canoe, attended by her principal men, she gave the strangers a courteous welcome, presenting to De Soto a pearl necklace a yard and a half in length. Commanding her subjects to provide canoes and rafts, the army was transported across the river.
Here the host remained encamped for some weeks, in friendly intercourse with this peaceful and hospit- able nation. In the tombs of their ancestors the Indians showed them vast treasures of pearls, com- puted to be not less than fourteen bushels, of which De Soto, though invited to take them all, preferred to select only a small number, leaving the remainder for a subsequent expedition. Here also, in a depository of Indian weapons annexed to a place of burial, they found a Spanish dagger and coat of mail, evidently the relics of the expedition of Lucas Vasquez
45
OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
De Ayllon, which had come to an end so sorrowful and so well deserved, fifteen years before.
After a time, there came rumors of gold from the west; and bearing their specimen pearls, and inhos- pitably rewarding good with evil by seizing their beautiful and generous young hostess, in order that her authority might secure them good treatment and safety on the road, they march across the southern end of the Alleghany range to northwestern Georgia. On the road, the princess of Cofachiqui escaped, carrying a little treasure of valuable pearls. Travel- ling onward, they arrive at Chiaha, where they find a pot of honey, the first and last seen by the expedi- tion, and the only honey mentioned, it is believed, as existing within the limits of the United States before its settlement by the whites, who are usually sup- posed to have introduced the bee .* Questioning the chief of Chiaha, if he " had notice of any rich coun- trie," the Indian said that at Chisca, toward the north, there was copper, and another finer and softer metal. De Soto sends two envoys with Indian guides to find the place; but they return with no gold, and with news of none, bearing a buffalo hide for their only prize. Next they travel through the great province of Cosa, supplied by the inhabitants with porters for the baggage, and with provisions. Resting in one
* Peter Martyr says that the Mexicans had both honey and wax. (Decades of the Ocean, Dec. 5, cap. 10.)
46
PIONEERS, PREACHERS AND PEOPLE
place twenty days, and twenty-five in another, they pass through this, the goodliest land they have yet seen, and bending southward, march by Tallise, through the territory now called Alabama, toward the capital of a great chief called Tuscaloosa, whom they meet upon the border of his dominions, near the present city of Montgomery. Tuscaloosa, or Black Warrior, a chieftain of a tribe probably the Choctaws, was the mightiest cacique in all this region ; ruling apparently over a great part of the present States of Alabama and Mississippi. He was so tall that when mounted upon the largest horse in the army, his feet nearly touched the ground. He was eminently handsome, although grave, stern, haughty and repel- lant in demeanor. This magnificent chief, who was born to rule, received De Soto, sitting upon a simple wooden throne, and shaded by the broad round standard of painted deerskin which was his ensign in war. With a laconic welcome, he set out to guide the Spanish commander to his capital, Mauvila, or Maubila, situated ten days' march to the southward ; a reminiscence of whose name exists in that of the city of Mobile. To insure good treatment from the natives, after his custom, De Soto surrounded the Black Warrior with a guard, professedly of honor,
but really to hold him as a hostage. This the proud chief at once discovered; but betrayed no sign of dis- pleasure. At length, within a day's march of
47
OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
Maubila, De Soto with a hundred horse and a hun- dred foot, accompanied by Tuscaloosa, pushed for- ward to the capital, leaving the remainder of the force to be brought up by Luis de Moscoso, master of the camp. The Adelantado apprehended that danger threatened at Mauvila, and was in haste to resolve his doubt. Reaching the town early in the morning, he found it a walled place. A stockade of great tree trunks had been formed, transverse beams had been lashed to these by means of vines, and over all was a stucco of mud hardened in the sun. At every fifty paces were towers on the walls, capable of holding eight bowmen. Many of the trees in the stoekade had survived transplanting, and were in full leaf, giving to the fortification a strange beauty. The houses were built on broad streets, and although but eighty in number were yet so large that each would hold a thousand persons. In the centre was a great public square. The town was built in the midst of a plain, finely situated upon a noble bluff of the Ala- bama River, whose peaceful current was seen in the distance gliding between beautiful banks. The other margin of the plain was skirted by a forest. Near the western wall was a beautiful limpid lake.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.